Tag: top-stories
Jason and Shirley | Review
Holliday Heart: Winter Reimagines the Peripheral Flotsam and Jetsam of Famed Interview
The nagging obscurity of Shirley Clarke’s famed 1967 documentary Portrait of Jason remains...
Rock the Kasbah | Review
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World: Levinson’s Afghan Exploration Prizes Diversion
After a unique pit stop in found footage horror with 2012’s The Bay...
Suffragette | Review
Female Misbehavior: Gavron’s Noble Depiction of British Women’s Suffrage Movement
There’s much to admire in Sarah Gavron’s sophomore directorial effort, Suffragette, a turn-of-the-century snapshot of...
Bone Tomahawk | Review
Down to the Bone: Zahler’s Debut a Dapper Genre Hybrid
For his directorial debut, screenwriter S. Craig Zahler assembles an illustrious cast in Bone Tomahawk,...
Heart of a Dog | Review
Essay films rarely get as much attention as Laurie Anderson's Heart of a Dog as already attracted. The highly regarded performance artist and musician has long...
Criterion Collection: My Own Private Idaho| Blu-ray Review
Patching together portraits of his beloved Portland streets, bits of Shakespeare's Henry IV via Welles' tumultuous Chimes at Midnight, and vignettes of a narcoleptic vagabond hustler whose motherless anxieties...
The Conversation: 2015 TIFF Top 10 New Faces
Film fests such as the Toronto Int. Film Festival afford us the best of opportunities to get instantly familiar with new faces in the world...
The Russian Woodpecker | Review
Signals Over The Air: First Time Filmmaker Chad Gracia Sees Russian Conspiracy Theory Transform Into Truth
At the dark heart of director Chad Gracia’s messy,...
Meadowland | Review
Downward Slopes: Morano’s Debut of Downtrodden Beats
Cinematographer Reed Morano (The Skeleton Twins; Kill Your Darlings) makes her directorial debut with Meadowland, an increasingly cheerless...
Jane B. par Agnes V. | Varda Retrospective Review
She’s Not There: Varda’s Lovely, Refracted Portrait of Iconic Birkin
The other obscure Agnes Varda title treated to a digital restoration courtesy of Cinelicious Pics...
Kung Fu Master! (Le petit amour) | Varda Retrospective Review
Oedipus at the Arcade: Varda’s Empathetic Exploration of Taboo
Invariably, most conversations concerning Agnes Varda, the sole female auteur amongst the prized clutch of men...
AFI Fest 2015: Mediterranea, James White & Krisha Among New Auteurs and American Independents Films Lineup
A pair of sections that we've been covering almost since its inception, the American Film Institute (AFI) announced their selections for the New Auteurs...
Crimson Peak | Review
The Fall of the House of Cushing: Del Toro’s Haunted House Thriller Strangled by Frills
There’s much to admire within the crumbling facades of Guillermo...
Under Electric Clouds | Review
Syndromes and a Century: German Jr.’s Existentialist State of Things
Aleksey German Jr., son of famed Russian auteur Aleksey German, comes into his own prominence...
Bridge of Spies | Review
A Bridge Too Far: Spielberg Gets Chilly with Cold War Curiosity
We’re used to seeing Steven Spielberg’s penchant for WWII recuperations, whether it be via...
The Conversation: 2015 TIFF Top 10 New Voices
Though it’s a harder film festival to regulate and therefore tabulate a comprehensively genuine list reflecting the totality of the fest’s offering per any...
Room | Review
Of One’s Own: Abrahamson Delivers Emotionally Potent Adaptation
Irish director Lenny Abrahamson continues his trajectory of unpredictable cinematic platforms with his latest film, Room, an...
Experimenter | Review
Experiment This: Almereyda Revisits Classic Social Psych Progenitor
American filmmaker Michael Almereyda brings to the screen a pseudo-biopic on one of the more famous social...
The Devils (1971) | 2015 Beyond Film Festival Review
Sympathy for The Devils: The Suppression of Ken Russell’s Delirious, Incomparable Masterpiece
Despite the pronounced pedigree of its origins, Ken Russell’s glorious 1971 film The...
The Final Girls | Review
Spoofaway Camp: Strauss-Schulson’s Playful Mash-up Takes a Tumble On You
Director Todd Strauss-Schulson, whose last feature was A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)...
Victoria | Review
Sleepless Night: Schipper’s Audacious, Single Take Heist Thriller
Actor turned director Sebastian Schipper makes major headway with his fourth effort behind the camera, Victoria. Premiering...
Trash | Review
Another Man’s Treasure: Daldry Revisits Themes of Childhood Lost
The muted reception behind the latest film from thrice Oscar nominated director Stephen Daldry seems curious,...
The Forbidden Room | Review
Dreams! Visions! Madness!: Maddin & Johnson’s Extravagant Symphony of Silent Cinema Fantasia
Those familiar with the works of auteur Guy Maddin, sometimes referred to as...
IONCINEPHILE of the Month: Reed Morano (Meadowland)
IONCINEMA.com’s IONCINEPHILE of the Month feature focuses on an emerging filmmaker from the world of cinema....but we would be disingenuous in categorizing this month's...
Knock Knock | Review
While We’re Young: Roth’s Revisits Grindhouse Home Invasion
Genre director Eli Roth presents his first remake, Knock Knock, a rehash of a 1977 grindhouse thriller,...
Dukhtar | Review
Not Without My Dukhtar: Nathaniel’s Debut a Sobering Drama
On paper, the premise of director Afia Nathaniel’s debut, Dukhtar (Daughter), sounds like it has the...
Five Films by Patricio Guzmán | DVD Review
As Patricio Guzman’s latest documentary The Pearl Button, which premiered at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival, completes its festival circuit rounds, a comprehensive box...
The Walk | Review
Large Spectacle: Hollywood’s Answer to Petit’s Infamous Le Coup
A singular man with an impossible goal dealing with the ultimate stakes of life or death....
Sky | 2015 TIFF Review
It’s the Limit: Berthaud Escapes into the Great Well Known
Actress turned director Fabienne Berthaud reunites with her favored on-screen counterpart Diane Kruger for her...
Pay the Ghost | Review
All Sallow’s Eve: Edel Gets Stuck in the Cage
For those who had a modicum of hope that German director’s Uli Edel's Canadian production of...
Jafar Panahi’s Taxi | Review
Riding in Cars with Directors: Panahi’s Continued Cinema of Resistance
Sanctioned Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi’s Taxi took home the 2015 Berlin Film Festival’s top prize,...
Addicted to Fresno | Review
But I’m a Sex Addict: Babbitt Returns to Dark Comedy with Mixed Results
Though the film rests rather comfortably on the shoulders of its talented...
Top 3 Critics’ Picks: Guy Maddin/Evan Johnson, Sebastián Silva, Hou Hsiao-Hsien in Theatres This October
IONCINEMA.com’s Top 3 Critics’ Picks offers a curated approach to the movie-going theatre dilemma: what would you recommend I see in theaters this month?...
In the Room | 2015 TIFF Review
If These Walls Could Catcall: Khoo’s Sex Omnibus Fails to Tantalize
Singaporean auteur Eric Khoo returns with his latest feature, In the Room, a decades...
Partisan | Review
Pledge Allegiance: Kleiman’s Intriguing Debut a Fascist Allegory
Sure to draw superficial comparisons to other famed pre-teen assassin films like The Professional (1994) or Hanna...
Freeheld | Review
The Equality in Dying: Sollett’s Topical Gay Rights Issue Explores Yesterday’s Nightmares
Had a film like Freeheld been released in the late 2000s, shortly after...
Ashby | Review
Three Months to Kill: McNamara’s Derivative Hodge-Podge
You’ll neither laugh nor cry, but hover somewhere in an emotionally dysthymic plateau watching Tony McNamara’s sophomore debut,...
Maurice Pialat Retrospective: Under the Sun of Satan | Review
Soak up the Sun: Pialat’s Palme d’Or Winning Spiritual Anguish
As part of Cohen Media Group’s Maurice Pialat retrospective, perhaps the most significant title showcased...
The Conversation: The Totality of Toronto (Plus 2015 TIFF Top Ten)
In the nine consecutive years I’ve attended the Toronto International Film Festival, it remains an elusive monstrosity of an event. With its hundreds of...
Les êtres chers | 2015 TIFF Review
Sowing the Seed of Love: Émond Prescribes Depression Medicine for Two
In Zizekian logic, there are the unknown knowns, that is to say, there are...
Maurice Pialat Retrospective: The Mouth Agape | Review
A Death in the Family: Pialat’s Subtle Masterpiece of Familial Anguish
French auteur Maurice Pialat, the famed Palme d’Or winner who resisted being defined by...
Video Interview: Daniel Barber (The Keeping Room)
Five years after the Michael Caine vehicle Harry Brown hit theaters, director Daniel Barber has returned to the director's seat with a revisitation to period drama,...
The Keeping Room | Review
Ruminations: Barber’s Sophomore Effort Brings the War Home
Director Daniel Barber returns with sophomore effort The Keeping Room, his first film since the Death Wish...
Parisienne (Peur de rien) | 2015 TIFF Review
A Girl in the World: Arbid’s Coming of Age Portrait Enhanced by Generous Lead
French director Danielle Arbid returns with Parisienne, her first feature since...
Stonewall | Review
Hole in the Wall: Emmerich Butchers Historical Moment with Whitewashed Overcoat
On June 28, 1969, a group of gay men and women took a stand...
Western | Review
Fractured Frontier: Ross Bros. Witness Bordertowns Running Afoul Under Threat of Storm Clouds & Cartels
The brothers Ross, Bill and Turner, have been rightly hailed...
99 Homes | Review
Housing Complex: Bahrani Extends Capitalism Criticism to Housing Market
Though his 2012 farming melodrama At Any Price found director Ramin Bahrani gaining wider visibility with...
Mississippi Grind | Review
Let the River Run: Boden & Fleck’s Melancholy, Character Driven Road-Trip
Filmmaking duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck return with their best collaboration since the...
High-Rise | 2015 TIFF Review
Closer to the Gods: Cult Author Meets Cult Director in Wheatley’s Latest Dish
Destined to be overlooked as a visually impressive but significant creative failure,...
The New Girlfriend | Review
The Skin I Live In: Ozon’s Exquisite New Exploration of Gender Subversion
For his most playful and delightfully creepy film in years, Francois Ozon adapts...
